The NHL's 2009 Winter Classic is now history. My thoughts on the game:

- The Blackhawks played a spirited first period to take a 3-1 lead but then seemed to lose their wheels in the next two periods. It was almost as though they were trying to protect that lead by abandoning the style that worked so well in the first period.  It's not like they sat on the lead but starting chasing the puck rather than trying to control the pace of the game.

- The Red Wings displayed in this game why they're the defending Stanley Cup champions. They didn't get rattled by the Blackhawks early lead and their experience, skill and poise paid off in the next two periods as they took control of the game and eventually took a lead which they'd never relinquish.

- Terrific crowd on hand for this one as over 40,000 fans packed Wrigley Field. Not as large as those of the 2003 Heritage Classic in Edmonton and the 2008 Winter Classic in Buffalo but that's due to the confines of playing in a baseball park, compared to those previous games played in football stadiums able to hold larger crowds.

Very loud and enthusiastic, and there was also a strong segment of vocal Red Wings supporters on hand too. Nice to see most of the hometown crowd stick around to the bitter end rather than bail after the Wings made it 6-3 midway early in the third period.

- The weather and ice conditions appeared perfect, too, adding a great touch to this game. In the Heritage Classic the players had to play through bitter cold and in last year's Winter Classic the driving snow. This year, it was cold enough to create perfect ice conditions but not so cold to be uncomfortable, and it was overcast with no snow and also no glare off the ice had it been sunny.

- I'm looking forward to the TV ratings out of the United States for this one. Last year's Winter Classic garnered the NHL its highest US TV ratings in over a decade. For the most part this was a very entertaining game, perhaps not as closely played as the previous two but with plenty of scoring and offensive opportunities.

- Detroit goaltender Ty Conklin has now played in all three outdoor NHL games and has a 2-1 record with the victory today. In my Foxsports. com preview of the 2009 Classic I erroneously reported Conklin had lost his previous two outings, but he was in net for the Pittsburgh Penguins in their 2-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres last year. He was the losing goalie in the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 defeat at the hands of the Montreal Canadiens in 2003.

- The home teams have lost all three of the NHL's outdoor games to date.

- Fans of Chicago goalie Cristobal Huet won't like this, but I didn't think he was particularly sharp in this game, looking out of position on a couple of those goals. He seemed to be fighting the puck and never really looked comfortable out there.

- The standouts of this one were Jiri Hudler, Brian Rafalski, Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg for Detroit and Martin Havlat, Ben Eager, Patrick Sharp and Kris Versteeg for Chicago.

I was particularly impressed by Datsyuk's backhand goal after splitting the Blackhawks defense and with Eager's goal late in the first period, the result of out-working a Detroit defender behind the Red Wings net.

- The Wings did a terrific job for the most part of shutting down the Blackhawks young offensive talent. Patrick Kane had no points (he's believed to be nursing an injury) while Jonathan Toews and Patrick Sharp were limited to one assist each. Versteeg and Havlat were the main offensive threats for the Blackhawks in the first period but after that were stymied by the Wings checking.

- Even though the Blackhawks lost this game (and for the fourth time this season) to the Red Wings it's a valuable learning experience for this team with predominantly young stars like Kane, Toews, Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook. The 'Hawks are a rising team with a bright future, but they've been forced to learn painfully from the defending champs that they still have work to do if they hope to be a force in this year's playoffs.

The Blackhawks are a very good team but they're not a great team...yet.  

- Here's to another terrific Winter Classic in 2010, wherever it may be!